Trials and Tribulations
by SellyRavencroft
Summary: Edward leaves Bella again, only this time it was meant to hurt her. The whole Cullen family goes to foolishly visit the Volturi and when the ancients find out about what the Cullens have done, they decide that a trial is in order. Two guard members are dispatched to retrieve Bellaand bring her back. But when she returns, will she find love again in all the right places?
1. Chapter 1

The throne room was quiet with a pregnant silence as the bronze haired boy stood tall in front of the three ancients. His family stood around him with their heads bowed in shame. "Would you care to repeat that, child?" the center of the ancients spoke slowly standing.  
The expression on the man's face was one of carefully masked rage. The other two slowly stood beside him. One looking considerably less bored than he had just moments ago when the family arrived, and the other's face was pulled back in a silent snarl. The bronze haired boy spoke again, loudly and clearly, "I left Bella again, alive and in Forks. If you want her, either kill her or change her, I really don't care."  
"You would just leave your mate in that way? Or is she your mate?" The leader mused to himself.  
He then held his hand out for the boy to grasp, clearly expecting him to comply. He stepped forward and cooly slid his palm into the leader's grasp and the other man's eyes slowly widened. "How...interesting."  
The long, black haired leader stepped back and called for his guards. "Felix, Demetri, I want you to go to Forks, Washington and retrieve Miss Swan unharmed and bring her back to me. Jane and Alec, please take Edward down to the dungeons to await his fate. Refrain from killing him, but use whatever means necessary to restrain him."  
The crowded room broke into an uproar as the bronze haired one, Edward, threw himself at the leader only to suddenly drop to the ground writhing in pain. Carlisle, the leader of the Cullen clan spoke up in his defence, "Please, Aro, have mercy on my son."  
"Mercy? This child has broken our laws. We warned him that he must change Miss Swan or kill her and he has left her alone. She is a liability and must be taken care of!"  
"Calm yourself, Caius. The problem will be taken care of." Aro calmed the white-blond haired man. He then turned to Carlisle. "Your family will also be imprisoned. Once the young Isabella is here we will hold a trial to decide your punishment and we will use her testimony. I do hope that for your sake she is feeling generous."  
Most of the Cullens struggled as they were led away, all except for Carlisle. He knew that whatever would befall his family, it wouldn't be good.

**Bella's POV**

Rain fell onto my face as I stood in front of the graves of my parents, washing away the steady stream of tears dripping from them. It was an accident or so I was told. They had been the last things holding me on this Earth now that Edward had gone and taken his family from me. God must hate me. "...ashes to ashes, dust to dust..." the preacher ended the service with his final words and the crowds around me that came to mourn their police chief, his flighty ex-wife, and his ex-wife's husband finally left while I stood frozen in front of their graves.  
"C'mon Bella." Jacob said softly putting a scorching hot arm around my shoulder to draw me away from the graves and to his car.  
I got inside numbly and before I knew it we were back at my home. It was empty now, without Charlie there, watching TV. I started shaking and Jacob pulled me closer to him, holding me close. "Just let it out, Bells."  
Sobs racked my body and I leaned into him because I lacked the strength to stand. Outside, a car honked. He pulled away gently setting me on the couch. "I've got to go, Bella. Thats my dad."  
"Goodbye, Jacob." I whispered, my voice hoarse. We both knew that this would probably be the final goodbye between us. He knew what I was feeling and he wouldn't stop me.  
"Goodbye, Bells. I'll always love you." He turned away then, after kissing my cheek softly.  
"I love you too, Jake." I watched as Jake walked out of my life.  
My knees gave out from under me and I fell to the floor. Everything in my life was completely gone and those few, precious people I had left had given up on me. I laid on the floor of the hallway and thought about what I could do. I could kill myself, I honestly saw it as an option, but I wanted to honor my family first in some way. There was still the problem of Victoria after me as well, I didn't know what she would do if I were to kill myself without getting her away from Forks first. A knock on the door brought me out of my thoughts. I struggled to my feet and opened the door to find Sam Uley standing there, his expression bleak. "Can I come in, Bella? There are some things that we need to talk about."  
I nodded and stepped out of the way to let him inside. He walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table. I followed his example and joined him, waiting for him to speak first. He cleared his throat awkwardly and began."Bella, I know this is a hard time for you right now, hell I can't imagine the loss you've suffered in this past week, but I'm afraid that I can only add to it."  
"What are you talking about, Sam?" I whispered softly.  
He looked at me, probably thinking about what a pitiful sight a made. "This is the second time that the Cullens have left you alone and defenseless, even when they knew about the redhead that is after you. The Pack are all fond of you, but with tribe children now being activated and the threat that Victoria poses to the entire Forks area, for the good of the people, we have to ask you to leave the area as soon as possible. We're sorry to see you go, but one life compared to several hundreds isn't worth it. I hope you can understand."

It was like my world was shattering again. I nodded because I did understand, I wasn't worth it. Isn't that what Edward had driven into my head both times he had left? I was just a stupid human and besides, Sam was right. It was in my power to help the people of Forks by leading Victoria away from here and that was the least I could do in return for all the things the Pack and the people here had done for me. "I...I do understand, Sam, and I promise to leave within the next few days if you'll promise to sell my dad's house and everything. I want the reservation to keep any of the money made from it, okay? It's the least I can do for all the trouble I've caused you all."

He looked shocked. "Bella this is your dad's house, he would've wanted you to have it."

I shook my head. "What would be the point? To be honest, Sam, I doubt that I'll be alive after I leave much longer because I won't be under your protection anymore. Victoria can take her revenge and the money would just sit, I certainly wouldn't be using it. I ask that you take it and do something good with it."

Sam stood then and nodded. "Very well, Bella, and thank you for the money and doing the right thing. I'll personally make sure everything gets taken care of."

I stood with him giving him a soft smile before pecking him softly on the cheek. "No thank you, Sam. I've been so very tired lately and I think that knowing that I can help others and that my dad's estate will be handled once I'm gone will be a welcome relief."

He left and I stood steady for the first time in weeks, ready to do the right thing and leave. I knew Victoria would find me and I would meet a very painful end, but I suppose that it would be what I deserved for putting so many through the trouble and inconvenience that I brought with me.

**Demetri's POV**  
I stood outside of the Swan residence, in the tree line, with Felix by my side. We heard everything that had been said between the shifter and the human, Isabella. Felix looked at me and I could tell we both felt the same way about the little human inside who had obviously been through much pain since the last time we had seen her in Volturra. It seemed that after the Cullens had abandoned her once more, her family had been killed in some way and a redheaded female vampire named Victoria was dead set on killing her. I felt sorry for her and it seemed that Felix shared my pity. Now she would have to come and face the vampires that had caused her much pain and possibly be killed, though it seemed my masters were reluctant for that course of action. Felix and I took a step forward when we were suddenly surrounded by a group of wolves growling menacingly at us. The man from inside, Sam, stepped out of the shadows. "Who are you and why are you watching Bella?"  
Calmly I replied. "My name is Demetri and my companion is Felix. I am the Captain of the Guard of the Volturi, rulers and justice bringers of the vampiric world. We are here to bring Miss Swan back to Volturra by rule of Masters Aro, Caius, and Marcus Volturi to speak as a witness in the trial of the Cullen family."  
He looked surprised and the growling picked up at the name of the Cullens. "Vampires have a justice system? And what have the Cullens done?"  
Felix answered. "The Volturi have been in the seat of power over all vampires for centuries because we enforce the rules of the vampiric world that keep our kind from being discovered by humans. The Cullens are on trial because they broke the law by letting Miss Swan in on our secret without either killing her or changing her after one warning from our lords."  
The growls turned to snarls and one of them stepped forward as if to attack us when Sam snarled back. "Enough! All of you go home! Bella was going to leave anyway so we will leave these leeches in peace as long as they swear not to feed in our area." He looked at us in question and we both nodded.  
"We are just here for Isabella. We won't be in Forks long enough to need to feed because we have a jet waiting for us back in Seattle."  
"Very well. Jared and Embry will watch and escort you to the border of our land so that you may leave without interference. "  
The shifter turned and the wolves disappeared into the trees, leaving behind their angry growls. Felix turned to me. "Shall we get this done and over will Dimika?"  
I nodded and we went into the house quietly to find Isabella.


	2. Chapter 2

**Bella's POV**

I was upstairs in my dad's room lying with one of his shirts on his bed when I looked up to see two red-eyed vampires standing over me. They looked down at me as if waiting to hear me scream while I just layed there. "Isabella Swan?" one of them asked.

I just nodded tiredly. "Yes. If you're here to kill me or take me to Victoria, please just get it over with."

The taller one looked at the other curiously before introducing himself. "My name is Felix and this is Demetri. You might remember us from the last time you visited Italy."

My eyes widened and I flinched as I thought about what happened that day and how I barely escaped the death of not only me but Him as well. "The Volturi." I whispered suddenly taking in the seriousness of the situation.

Demetri nodded. "We are here to take you back to Italy with us to witness in the trial of the Cullen family on the charge of revealing our existence to a human and ignoring an order given by the ancients. Please grab the things that you cannot leave behind as it is not likely that you will be returning here again. Clothes, food, and toiletries will be provided to you."

Slowly, I got to my feet. "A-alright, I'll try to be quick."

"Please," Felix told me with a kind smile "don't worry about rushing through. I'd hate for you to leave something precious behind."

I tried to smile back at him but it more than likely came out as a grimace as I nodded again. I stayed wrapped in Charlie's favorite flannel shirt as I got my bags and began to gather the things most precious to me. The first was a locket that Charlie, Renee, and Phil had gotten me this past Christmas with their pictures in it. It wound up and played a lullaby from my childhood that Renee used to sing to me and that went around my neck. The next was the ring I always wore around my right ring finger that was Grandma Swan's wedding ring. I stopped for a moment when I got to the photo album with pictures of Them in it and the CD He had made me before I gathered them up and handed them to Demetri. "What is this?" he asked me curiously.

"Things I don't want anymore, but can be used as evidence in the trial if deemed relevant." I replied in a flat tone.

He gave me his thanks and I went back through my things. I also took the laptop that Charlie had given me for my past birthday, my classics collection, and a few items that had belonged to Charlie like his police badge and the flag that had been presented to me at his funeral. I put on a pair of pants, grabbed my purse that had my passport in it and let them know that I was ready to leave.

I was ushered into Felix's arms as they ran through the night. As I was leaving Forks, I heard the final howls from The Pack as I disappeared forever into the night.

**Felix's POV**

By the time we arrived back at the plane, Bella had fallen asleep in Demetri's arms. He set her down gently without waking her and buckled her into the seat. I sat next to him across from her as the plane began to taxi before finally taking off. "Trusting for a human." I commented to him.

"Well the Cullen boy she had belonged to seemed to think that she has no sense of self-preservation."

I frowned. "It's possible, but I'm disinclined to give his opinions any value when he doesn't give her any value."

He looked at me amused. "You're fond of her, aren't you, Felix?"

"And you aren't?"

"I didn't say that...though it seems odd that we would feel anything like this so soon. Perhaps she has a gift."

I shrugged. "I suppose it's possible. We already know that she's a shield. I wonder what she'll be like as a vampire."

"There are only three people who know that: the psychic pixie, Master Aro, and the Cullen boy. I would guess that that's why Master Aro wants her there so badly and why I think that she'll be changed instead of killed."

Looking over at the petite human girl, I pushed a stray hair behind her ear gently while Demetri watched. "I hope she's changed. I could see her being an asset to the guard and a true family member to us all."

He followed my gaze watching as she whimpered softly in her sleep. "I could see her ending up as a Queen."

"A Queen, Dimika?"

He grinned at me then and I felt an answering smile break across my face. "I did tell you that Master Aro wants her."


End file.
